Last month in June, Walmart workers in Florida and Texas were shocked when managers told them they could no longer work. Their legal work permits had suddenly been revoked. Many were told not to show up for their next shift.
Managers scrambled to fill the gaps with older part-time workers and retirees. The change wasn’t due to job cuts or quitting. It came from a federal court ruling that overturned their right to work. This sudden shift shows how quickly immigration policy can hit the workplace.
So what caused this staffing crisis in the first place?
Why So Many Workers Lost Their Jobs Overnight
On May 30, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the Trump administration permission to end a Biden-era immigration program. This program had allowed more than 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to live and work in the U.S. legally. They had passed background checks, found financial sponsors, and received official work permits.
After the court decision, the Department of Homeland Security started sending out notices cancelling their work authorization. Not everyone had to leave immediately. Timelines vary depending on each person’s paperwork and case. But the legal permission to work disappeared fast, and employers had to act.
The Work Program That Filled Essential Jobs
The CHNV parole program began with Venezuelans in October 2022, then expanded in January 2023 to include migrants from Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua. It allowed up to 30,000 people each month to enter the U.S. legally if they passed background checks and had financial sponsors. Once approved, they were given documents that allowed them to work for two years.
Many got jobs at companies like Walmart and Disney, especially in retail and hospitality, where help was badly needed. By late 2024, more than 532,000 people had come through the program. That’s when the legal landscape started to shift.
Walmart Begins Letting Workers Go
After the Supreme Court’s decision, Walmart quickly began checking employee records and removing workers whose authorization had been revoked. They used I-9 forms and new alerts from the government’s E-Verify system to identify affected employees. Many workers were notified by store managers or through Walmart’s internal systems.
Florida and Texas stores were hit hardest, since they have larger numbers of workers in this category. Walmart said these actions were part of following the law. But for the workers suddenly removed from shifts, it was a surprise. And the effects were soon felt across sales floors and stockrooms.
Stores Struggle to Keep Things Running
Walmart stores quickly started to feel the loss. Some stores lost between 10 and 40 workers in just a few days, which was as much as 10 percent of their staff. To keep things running, managers called on older employees and part-timers to cover key shifts. But with fewer hands, many associates said they were overworked and tired.
Customer service started to slip. According to reports from inside the stores, it wasn’t just a short-term hiccup. The stress built up fast, and teams were stretched thin. Next, workers took to social media to share what it felt like.
“We Lost People We Couldn’t Replace”
On Reddit and in news interviews, Walmart workers shared stories of losing multiple coworkers at once. Some said they were asked to work across several departments. Others said managers were struggling to build schedules with so few people left. According to one post, “We just lost 10 employees who were here on work visas.” Many of the workers let go were performing well, but a change in policy made their paperwork invalid.
Experts in labor law said these were not traditional layoffs. They were policy-driven terminations that HR departments weren’t used to handling. That made things even harder.
HR Teams Face a Legal Mess
Walmart’s human resources departments found themselves dealing with legal issues they hadn’t faced before. These were not performance-based firings. They were driven by new immigration rules. One day, employees were fully legal and authorized. The next day, they weren’t. Immigration attorneys said this created a tough situation for companies.
Employers had to act fast to follow federal rules, but they also had to be careful not to discriminate. HR teams were told to recheck work status quickly, but the government didn’t provide names. That meant staff had to match records manually. It caused delays and confusion everywhere.
A Tough Spot for Big Employers
According to immigration lawyer Loren Locke, the situation became a full-blown compliance crisis. The Department of Homeland Security didn’t send clear lists. Instead, it told companies they were expected to know which employees no longer had work authorization. That put big employers like Walmart at risk if they didn’t act fast. But acting too fast or asking the wrong questions could lead to discrimination complaints.
Employment attorney Jamie E. Wright said the real issue is outdated systems. “What Walmart and other employers really need is not a blanket policy, but a smarter system,” she told DailyMail.com.
Disney Also Feels the Pressure
Walmart isn’t the only company dealing with this. According to Bloomberg and the LA Times, Disney recently placed 45 Venezuelan employees in Florida on unpaid leave. These workers also lost their legal status under the same program. Disney gave them until May 20 to show new documents or face termination.
Immigration lawyers say employers in many industries are reaching out for help. Retail, hospitality, and manufacturing companies are all trying to figure out who’s affected. They want to follow the law, but the rules are changing fast. The issue is no longer isolated to just a few companies.
Shoppers Start to Notice the Impact
Customers are starting to feel the effects. Photos and posts on social media show longer lines at Walmart stores. People are complaining about closed registers, crowded self-checkout areas, and fewer staff members on the floor. Retail experts say that when stores are short on workers, service suffers. Shoppers may see more empty shelves or get less help from employees.
According to CNN, this can push people toward other stores that are better staffed. Walmart has been here before, but this time, the staffing issues come from outside the company, and they’re not easy to fix overnight.
Rebuilding Won’t Be Easy
The road ahead looks uncertain. The government is offering tools like E-Verify alerts, but they don’t include names. That means HR teams have to do more manual work. Some former workers are trying to apply for asylum, which could let them work again. But those processes can take months or even years.
Meanwhile, Walmart is trying to fill jobs in a labor market that’s already tight. Competing for workers might mean higher wages, more hiring delays, and extra pressure on stores. The question now is whether Walmart and others can adjust quickly enough to keep customers happy.
What This Crisis Says About the Bigger Picture
This moment highlights how deeply immigration policy affects American jobs. Companies like Walmart followed the law when hiring workers through federal programs. When the policy changed, they had to let those same workers go. The sudden shift caused confusion, understaffing, and stress for everyone involved.
As other companies face the same problem, experts say the U.S. needs a clearer, more stable system. Without it, businesses and workers will keep getting caught in the middle. The question remains: how will the government, employers, and communities handle the fallout in the months ahead?